Australian Smart Infrastructure Awards

2014 National Infrastructure Awards

On 12 March 2014, the Smart Infrastructure Project Award was presented by the Hon Warren Truss MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, at the 2014 National Infrastructure Awards, hosted by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

The National Infrastructure Awards is a gathering of the nation's public and private sector leaders to celebrate and reward the success of Australia's infrastructure sector over the last twelve months.

The Smart Infrastructure Project Award is for an innovative technology based project and recognises the use of technology to deliver better, more efficient infrastructure services. In particular, the award acknowledges projects where the use of smarter technologies has contributed to superior service outcomes.

Transport for New South Wales together with the Pearl Consortium received the 2014 Smart Infrastructure Project Award for their Opal Card project.

The Opal Card project involved design, development, supply, implementation, commissioning, operation and support of a smartcard based ticketing system to be used across the Greater Sydney region. The smartcard will be accepted at more than 300 railway stations, 5,000 buses, 40 ferry wharves and light rail stops. The system has been designed to rapidly calculate the distance travelled using GPS technology and apply the fare when customers tap-on and off. The system also includes the ability to manage information about patronage, modes and routes for transport network planning.

The Australian Government is committed to partnering with state, territory and local government counterparts, as well as the research sector and industry to deliver sustainable, efficient and safe infrastructure for the future.